This easy garlic yu choy is the perfect vegetable side dish for any meal. It’s savory, garlicky, and crunchy— the texture and flavor are irresistibly good!
What is Yu Choy Sum?
Yu Choy Sum is a Chinese leafy vegetable in the Chinese broccoli family, commonly used as a vegetable side dish in Chinese cuisine. The texture tastes like a mix of spinach and broccoli to me. I first tasted yu choy at mother-in-law’s, she loves to cook with this vegetable.
What you’ll need to make this at home:
- Yu choy sum: this vegetable can be found at any most Chinese grocery stores.
- Garlic
- Thai chili peppers: feel free to omit this if it’s too spicy.
- Oil: neutral oil such as vegetable oil works best for this recipe
- Dark soy sauce: this is recommended for this recipe because it tastes slightly sweeter and is darker in color— making it perfect for this sauce. However, regular soy sauce will do if you can’t find dark soy sauce.
- Gochugaru
How to make this Easy Garlic Yu Choy:
Bring a large pot of water to a boil and blanch your rinsed yu choy for about 5 minutes. Make sure not to overcook the yu choy, we still want a slight crunch in texture. After 5 minutes, take the yu choy off the heat and drain the water. Transfer the yu choy to a serving plate.
In a heat-resistant bowl, add your minced garlic, diced Thai chili peppers, oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, and gochugaru.
In a small pan/pot, heat the oil on high heat for 1-2 minutes or until you start to see it smoking. Take the oil off the heat and carefully pour it over the sauce ingredients in the bowl. Allow the hot oil to sizzle and cook the ingredients, stir and mix well to combine.
Pour the sauce over the yu choy. Serve while hot and enjoy!
Other side dish recipes you may like:
- Mayak Eggs (Korean Marinated Eggs)
- Kani Salad
- Miso Garlic Bread
- Korean Scallion Salad 파무침 (Pa Muchim)
- Accordion Cucumber Salad
Video Tutorial
Ingredients
- ½ lb. Yu choy sum, rinsed
- 2 tablespoons Oyster sauce
- 5 cloves Garlic, finely minced
- 2-3 Thai chili peppers, finely diced
- 4 tablespoons oil, any neutral oil of choice
- 1 tablespoon Dark soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Gochugaru (Korean red pepper flakes)
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil on high heat and blanch your rinsed yu choy for about 5 minutes. (Make sure not to overcook the yu choy, we still want a slight crunch in texture). After 5 minutes, take the yu choy off the heat and drain the water. Transfer the yu choy to a serving plate or platter.
- In a heat-resistant bowl, add your minced garlic, diced Thai chili peppers, oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, and gochugaru.
- In a small pan or pot, heat the oil on high heat for 1-2 minutes or until you start to see it smoking. Take the oil off the heat and carefully pour it over the sauce ingredients in the bowl. Allow the hot oil to sizzle and cook the ingredients, stir and mix well to combine.
- Pour the sauce over the yu choy. Serve while hot and enjoy!
